Cloth transfer device

ABSTRACT

In the manufacture of curtains, draperies, and similar textile items, it is often necessary to perform separate sewing operations on opposite seams of a piece of cloth. The operator turns a small hem and passes the edge of the cloth beneath the needle of a sewing machine. It may then be necessary to perform a similar operation on the opposite hem or even to attach a piece of buckram to the opposite hem. The apparatus of the present invention is designed to transfer the cloth from one operation to the next operation to minimize handling and to permit a single operator to perform the necessary sewing operations on both hems. The device grasps the length of cloth coming from the first sewing machine, turns it over to place the finished edge remotely from the line of travel and then feeds the opposite unsewed edge to a second machine which again hems the device or sews a piece of buckram thereto. Essentially, the carrying device comprises a pair of endless belts operating in contiguous relationship and driven from a common source. The endless belts are driven so that the cloth coming from the first sewing machine passes between them and is carried along the belts until a tripping bar is reached. At this point a pair of movable fingers grasp the side edges of the cloth. These fingers are mounted on a bar slidable on a frame at right angles to the movement of the cloth. The bar and fingers move at right angles along the frame and lay the cloth horizontally flat on a moving conveyor. The cloth has now been laid with the finished edge away from the original moving belts and the unfinished edge closest to them. Movement is parallel to but spaced from the original endless belts and the cloth is fed to an automatic device having an edge guider, of conventional design, which now proceeds with the second operation. A single operator is thus able to perform a sewing operation on opposite edges of the same piece of cloth without additional handling.

Firestein et al.

CLOTH TRANSFE DEVICE [72] Inventors: Harry Firesteln, Mamaronec'k, N.Y.;Karl Tyas, Ocean Grove, Mass. [73] Assignee: Louis Hand Incorporated,Fall River, 7 Mass.

[22] Filed:, Sept. 25, 1970 [21] Appl. No.: 75,451

[52] U.S.Cl ....1l2/l21.15, ll2/l2l.29, 271/69 [51] Int. Cl. ..D05b33/02 [58] FieldofSearch ..ll2/2,l21.1l,12l.l5,121.29, 112/203, 262, 10;271/63-70, 1; 214/1 B, 1 BB, 1 BC, 1 Q, 1 QA; 83/83-91 [56] ReferencesCited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,208,418 9/1965 Frydryk ..112/2 X-3,295,483 1/1967 Rothfuss et al. ....ll2/262X 3,314,675 4/1967 Rothfusset a1. ..271/71 X 3,246,616 4/1966 Korioth ..l 12/121.29 3,345,96310/1967 Shoat ..271/68 X 3,367,651 2/1968 Eller et a1. ..271/70 5?ABSTRACT In the manufacture of curtains, draperies, and similar textileitems, it is often necessary to perform separate sewing operations onopposite seams of a piece of cloth. The operator turns a small hem andpasses the edge of the cloth beneath the needle of a sewing machine. Itmay then be necessary to perform a similar operation on the opposite hemor even to attach a piece of buckram to the opposite hem. The apparatusof the present inventionis designed to transfer the cloth from oneoperation to the next operation to minimize handling and to permit asingle operator to perform the necessary sewing operations on both hems.The device grasps the length of cloth coming from the first sewingmachine, turns it over to place the finished edge remotely from the lineof travel and then feeds the opposite unsewed edge to a second machinewhich again hems the device or sews a piece of buckram thereto.Essentially, the carrying device comprises a pair of endless beltsoperating in contiguous relationship and driven from a common'source.The endless belts are driven so that the cloth coming from the firstsewing machine passes between them I and is carried along the beltsuntil a tripping bar is reached. At

this point a pair of movable fingers grasp the side edges of the cloth.These fingers are mounted on a bar slidable on a frame at right anglesto the movement of the cloth. The bar and fingers move at right anglesalong the frame and lay the cloth horizontally flat on a movingconveyor. The cloth has now been laid with the finished edge away fromthe original moving belts and the unfinished edge closest to them.Movement is parallel to but spaced from the original endless belts andthe cloth is fed to an automatic device having an edge guider, ofconventional design, which now proceeds with the second operation. Asingle operator is thus able to perform a sewing operation on oppositeedges of the same piece of cloth without additional handling.

6 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures PATENTEDJUMY m2 3.672.313

SHEET 2 0F 3 F l G. 2

INVENTORS HARRY F lRESTElN KARL TYAS PATENTEDJUM? m2 SHEET 30F 3 Q [:100 v o n t I\ v Pi In] R w a t\ k t nm 3 :12: ||l 1i:

ll 0 0a, 0 g Q INVENTORS HAIgRY TsLRsESTElN c KA 5 ATTORNEY CLOTHTRANSFER DEVICE Our present invention relates to a cloth transfer deviceand more particularly to means for transferring cloth from one sewingoperation to another.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide a device forautomatically transferring a piece of cloth issuing from one sewingmachine to a second sewing machine operating on the opposite edge.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a device forautomatically removing a piece of cloth issuing from a sewing machineand transferring it in proper position to a second sewing machine foranother sewing operation.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a transferdevice which can be readily mounted adjacent a sewing machine forremoving the length of cloth after one edge has been sewed, andtransferring the opposite edge of the cloth to a'second sewing machinefor a second sewing operation.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a cloth transferdevice for a sewing machine which permits a multiplicity of controlledoperations to be performed on the same piece of cloth by a singleoperator. I

A further object of the present invention is to provide a cloth transferdevice which is comparatively simple in construction and easy andeconomical to manufacture and assemble.

With the above and other objects and advantageous features in view, ourinvention consists of a novel arrangement of parts more fully disclosedin the detailed description following in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, and more particularly defined in the appendedclaims.

In the drawings,

FIG. I is a top plan view of a cloth transfer device embodying ourpresent invention.

Flg. 2 is an end view of the device shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal section of the device shown in FIG. 1.

Flg. 4 is an enlarged top plan view showing the control device for thecloth grasping mechanism.

In the manufacture of many cloth articles, such as curtains anddraperies, it is required that a plurality of sewing operations beperformed on a single piece of cloth. It is therefore necessary totransfer the cloth from one sewing machine to another. If the item is aregular piece such as a rectangular piece of curtain or draperymaterial, it lends" itself ,to automatic handling and transfer. Thepresent invention is designed to provide a device for transferring aregular cloth article from one sewing machine operation to another.Furthermore, the device of the present invention turns the cloth so thatwhere the first machine has provided a hem or other sewing operationalong one edge, the transfer device now moves the opposite edge to thesecond sewing operation.

Essentially, the device of the present invention has two distinct parts.The first part receives the cloth from the sewing machine and transfersit to a mechanism which is movable at right angles to the original pathof movement. The second portion of the machine receives the cloth fromthe first part and carries it to the second sewing operation. The twoportions of the device are thus complementary to each other.

Referring more in detail to the drawings, the sewing machine may be ofany conventional type and designed to sew a seam or hem on a piece ofcloth traveling beneath the needle at the right end of the machine shownin FIG. 1. The sewing machine 10 is mounted on a table 11 and thetransfer device is positioned directly behind the table as shown in,

FIGS. 1, 2 and 3. The transfer device comprises a rectangular frame 12preferably formed of angle iron or channel stock. The frame comprisesthree spaced vertical posts 13 in alignment with the rear of the sewingmachine. Each post 13 is braced by a short horizontal portion 14 at thelower end and an angular bracing portion 15 extending from the end ofthe portion 14 upwardly to a point adjacent the top of thevertical posts13. The frame also comprises a horizontal member 16 extending across thetop of the posts 13, two side members 17 extending from each end of themember 16 at right angles thereto and a member 18 at the end of the sidemembers 17. The horizontal member 18 is longer than the spacing betweenthe side members 17 and is supported at each end by vertical adjustableposts 19. The length of the member 18 permits it to straddle thetransfer device positioned beneath it as hereinafter will be described.

Mounted on the frame 12, and in direct alignment with the rear of thesewing machine 10, are a pair of endless belts 20 and 21 in superimposedrelationship, the belt 20 being above the belt 21 and actually touchingeach other. The belt 20 passes around a pulley wheel 22 and the belt 21passes around the pulley wheel 23 at the left end of the machine asshown in FIG. 3. At the other end, behind the sewing machine 10 theupper belt passes around a wheel 24 and the lower belt passes around awheel 25. The wheels 24 and 25 are driven by a common source 26.

The material of the belts 20 and 21 are such that they will frictionallyabut each other and grasp the cloth as it passes from the machine.Viewing FIG. 3, the piece of material passes from right to left and itwill move from the machine through a conventional thread cuttingattachment 27 and between the belts 20 and 21 as they pass around thepulley wheels 24 and 25. From there it will pass between the two belts20 and 21 which will exert sufficient contiguous pressure to hold thecloth shown in dotted lines in FIGS. 2 and 3. The cloth will be carriedalong the belts 20 and 21 until approximately the center of the belt isreached, at which point further movement will be taken over by thegrasping and carrying mechanism hereinafter described.

The frame 12 is provided with a central bar 28 extending parallel to theside bars 17 from the front bar 16 to the rear bar 18. A pair of angleirons 29 extend inwardly from each end of the bar 28 in spaced relationabove it. The angle irons 29 support a holder 30 at each end connectedby a pipe 31 horizontally positioned in spaced parallel relation abovethe bar 28. The holders 30 are provided with pulley wheels 32 and thedriving belt 33 extends around the pulley and passes through the pipe31. The lower segment of the belt 33 is therefore positioned slightlyabove the central bar 28. We now provide a movable carrier bar 34 havingspaced rollers 35 at each end resting on the fiat horizontal portions ofthe angle irons 17, see FIG. I. The bar 34 can therefore ride along theangle irons 17 from a position adjacent the front bar 16, as shown inFIG. 1, to the right to a point adjacent the rear 18. The top of thecarrier bar 34 is provided with a unit 36 which attaches to the belt 33.Reciprocation of the belt 33 will therefore move the bar 34 backwardlyand forwardly between the horizontal crossbars 16 and 18 at the frontand rear of the machine.

Mounted on the bar 34, spaced from the left end as viewed in FIGS. 3 and4, is an air cylinder 37 having a reciprocating piston 38 pivotallylinked at 39 to a flat gear 40. The gear 40 matches with a similar gear41 so that movement of the gear 40 clockwise causes counterclockwisemotion of the gear 41 and vice versa. Now viewing FIG. 2, the gears 40and 41 are mounted on top of vertical rods 42 and 43. The rod 42 carriesa horizontal finger 44 and the rod 43 carries a horizontal finger 45.Operation of the unit is thus simple, when the piston 37 reciprocates inone direction the gears 40 and 41 will rotate and turn the rods 42 and43 in position so that the fingers 44 and 45 will turn towards eachother in touching position. When the piston 37 is reciprocated in theopposite direction turning movement of the gears 40 and 41 of the rods42 and 43 will cause the fingers 44 and 45 to pivot into the openposition shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

A similar mechanism is mounted adjacent the other end of the rod 34 andspaced therefrom. A cylinder 46 is provided with the reciprocatingpiston 47 linked at 48 to a gear 49 which meshes with a similar gear 50.As in the previous assembly, the gears 49 and 50 are provided withvertical rods 51 on which the fingers 52 are horizontally pivoted. Itshould be noted that the fingers 52 are of rectangular design. Nowviewing FIGS. 1 and 2, the horizontal carrier bar 34 will be positionedat the extreme left as shown in FIG. 1. In FIG. 2 it has been movedslightly forwardly to permit a better view of the belts and 21 and thecloth they are carrying. Now as the cloth moves along the belts 20 and21 into the position shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the leading edge of thecloth will contact a lever arm 53 extending from the unit mounted at theleft end of the device as shown in FIG. 4. The lever arm 53 trips amicroswitch which results in the reciprocation of the piston 38 in thecylinder 37 and the piston 47 in the cylinder 46. The fingers 44 and 45swing towards each other and grasp the leading edge of the materialshown in dotted lines in FIG. 3. Simultaneously, the fingers 52 swingtowards each other and grasp the rear edge of the material as shown inFIG. 4. The material is now firmly grasped at each side edge between thefingers 44 and 45 at one edge and 52 at the other edge adjacent thefinished top edge of the material.

The belt 33 is now activated and moves the carrier bar 34 along thechannel irons 17. The first initial movement gently pulls the cloth frombetween the belts 20 and 21. The cloth is then carried away at rightangles to the belts until a position is reached where the cylinders 37and 46 are again activated and the pistons 38 and 47 reciprocate so thatthe fingers open to release the cloth. At this point, further movementof the cloth is taken over by the second portion of the transfermechanism hereinafter described. It should be noted that the position ofthe finger engaging assemblies hereinabove described on the carrier bar34 are adjustable for different widths of cloth. The lengths of thefingers 44 and 45 and of the fingers 52 are such that a few inches inlength need not be compensated for as they will be grasped by thefingers. However, longer variations in the width of the cloth will haveto be compensated for by changing the position of the finger graspingassemblies.

The foregoing describes the first part of the transfer device. Thesecond part of the device is designed to receive the material and moveit to the machine for performing the second sewing operation. Referringto FIGS. 1, 2, and 3, we provide a generally rectangular table 54constructed mainly of angle iron stock. The table 54 comprises fourvertical legs 55 a lower transverse horizontal brace 56 at the ends andan upper horizontal transverse brace 57 below the tops of the verticallegs 55. Mounted on the top of the vertical legs 55 is an elongatedrectangular flat table 58 which extends from a point short of the uppercrossbar 17, see FIG. 1, to a point beyond the lower crossbar 17. Thewidth of the table 58 is such that it will fit easily between the endbars 16 and 18 of the transfer device hereinabove described.

Now viewing FIG. 3, mounted adjacent the left end of the table 58 is ashaft 59 having a plurality of spaced idler rollers 60. At the oppositeend, the table 58 is provided with a shaft 61 having a plurality ofspaced wheels 62 mounted thereon and fixed thereto. The shaft 61 ispower driven by a source not shown. We now provide a plurality ofendless belts or tapes 63 passing around the spaced wheels 62 at theright and around the spaced wheels 60 on the left as shown in FIGS. 1and 3. As can be seen in FIG. 1, the top portion of the tapes or belts63 rest on the table top 58 and on rotation of the wheels 60 and 62 thebelts 63 will move along the top of the table 58 downwardly in FIG. 1and from right to left in FIG. 3. It should also be noted, viewing FIGS.1 and 3, that the table 58 and belts 63 extend a considerable distancepast the ends of the belts 20 and 21 and their end pulley wheels 22 and23. Beyond the ends of the belts 20 and 21 and to the left in FIGS. 1and 3, we provide a device 64 adapted to perform the second operation onthe cloth coming from the machine 10.

The device 64 may be of any conventional design having an edge guiderwhich will receive the cloth moving along the belts 63 and willautomatically form a hemming or other type of sewing operation includingthe addition of a strip of buckram. This automatic operation and edgeguider is of conventional design and readily available on the market. Itis merely necessary that the edge of the cloth enter the device 64 at aclose approximation to where it is to be picked up by the device and theoperation to be performed thereon. To accomplish this the carrier devicehereinabove described lays the cloth on the moving belts 63 in a mannerhereinafter described.

As can be seen in FIG. 2, the cloth, shown in dotted lines is caughtbetween the belts 20 and 21 and hangs downwardly, the upper edge havingbeen hemmed or sewed by the machine 10 and the lower edge hanging belowbeing still in an unsewed state. Now as the cloth is grasped by thefingers 44, 45 and 52, the cloth will be moved from the position shownin FIG. 2 to the right. This movement will pull the cloth into ahorizontal position across the belts or tapes 63. Note that as thecarriage or transfer bar 34 moves to the right it is pulling the sewededge of the cloth and leaving the unsewed end behind it. The length ofthe stroke of the carriage 36 carrying the bar 34 is adjusted tocoincide with the length of the material suspended between the belts 20and 21. A guide angle iron bar 65 is positioned parallel to the belts 20and 21 and along the edge of the tapes or belts 63 so that as theunsewed edge of the cloth is laid down on the belts it should roughlyabut the edge of the guide 65. Now when the fingers 44 and 45 and 52release the cloth it will be gently laid on the belts 63 and carrieddownwardly in FIG. 1 towards the operational device 64. If the rearunsewed edge of the cloth has been aligned with the guide 65 it willpass in the right spot into the device 64 where the edge guider willpick up the cloth for perfonning the necessary sewing operations.

Viewing FIG. 1, it is therefore obvious that the cloth will pass fromthe sewing machine 10 along the belts 20 and 21 in a downward positionalong the belts until it reaches the point shown in FIG. 1. It will thenmove at right angles to the right until the rear edge is aligned withthe member 65. At this point the fingers will release the cloth into aflat position on the belts 63 which will carry it further downwardlythrough the device 64. This completes the transfer of the cloth. Thus asingle operation, beginning at the sewing machine 10 can finish bothopposite hems of the cloth, the operator guiding the first hem throughthe machine 10 and the transfer device turning the cloth over andguiding the other hem through the device 64. It should again be notedthat the device 64 will pick up the cloth and with an edge guider willpass it through any type ofdesired operation including sewing machines,buckram devices and hemming machines. Thus a different width of hem canbe sewed on the cloth at 64 than was initially sewed at the machine 10.

The device of the present invention thus obviates multiple handling andsewing so that the single operator can handle both hems upper and lowerof a piece of cloth. The device is simple in construction and easy andeconomical to manufacture and assemble. Other advantages of the presentinvention will be readily apparent to a person skilled in the an.

We claim:

1. A transfer device for textile material issuing from a sewing machinecomprising a pair of endless belts oppositely driven from a commonsource in contiguous horizontal position, the material beingfrictionally retained and carried adjacent one edge between said belts,said belts carrying the material to a predetermined position, means forgrasping opposite side edges of the material, said grasping means beingmovable at right angles to said belts to pull the material from saidbelts at right angles thereto, a conveyor adjacent said belts, saidgrasping means releasing the textile material onto said conveyor, andmeans for receiving and working on said material on said conveyor.

2. A device as in claim 1, wherein said grasping means lays the textilematerial from a vertical position to a horizontal position on saidconveyor.

3. A device as in claim 1, wherein said conveyor comprises an elongatedrectangular table, a plurality of spaced wheels rotatably mounted at oneend of said table, a complementary set of wheels rotatably mounted atthe other end of said table, a plurality of endless belts in spacedrelation extending across the top of said table and around said wheels,and means for driving one set of said wheels.

sewing machine.

6. A device as in claim 3, wherein said grasping means comprises ahorizontal frame, a carriage reciprocally mounted on said frame, anelongated carrier rod mounted on said carriage, and two spaced pairs ofmovable fingers adjustably mounted on said carrier rod.

1. A transfer device for textile material issuing from a sewing machinecomprising a pair of endless belts oppositely driven from a commonsource in contiguous horizontal position, the material beingfrictionally retained and carried adjacent one edge between said belts,said belts carrying the material to a predetermined position, means forgrasping opposite side edges of the material, said grasping means beingmovable at right angles to said belts to pull the material from saidbelts at right angles thereto, a conveyor adjacent said belts, saidgrasping means releasing the textile material onto said conveyor, andmeans for receiving and working on said material on said conveyor.
 2. Adevice as in claim 1, wherein said grasping means lays the textilematerial from a vertical position to a horizontal position on saidconveyor.
 3. A device as in claim 1, wherein said conveyor comprises anelongated rectangular table, a plurality of spaced wheels rotatablymounted at one end of said table, a complementary set of wheelsrotatably mounted at the other end of said table, a plurality of endlessbelts in spaced relation extending across the top of said table andaround said wheels, and means for driving one set of said wheels.
 4. Adevice as in claim 1, wherein said grasping means comprises a horizontalframe, a carriage reciprocally mounted on said frame, an elongatedcarrier rod mounted on said carriage, and two spaced pairs of movablefingers adjustably mounted on said carrier rod.
 5. A device as in claim2, wherein said receiving and worKing means comprises a sewing machine,and an automatic edge guider for feeding the edge of the materialthrough said sewing machine.
 6. A device as in claim 3, wherein saidgrasping means comprises a horizontal frame, a carriage reciprocallymounted on said frame, an elongated carrier rod mounted on saidcarriage, and two spaced pairs of movable fingers adjustably mounted onsaid carrier rod.